state legislatures

Democrats and liberals hoping to build a movement against the policies of President Donald Trump should take a page out of the Tea Party's 2010 movement and focus on "policies that build power," says Vanessa Williamson, the co-author of the 2012 book The Tea Party and the Remaking of Republican Conservatism. Like the Tea Party in 2010, anti-Trump activists plan to storm lawmakers’ offices and town hall meetings during Congress’ President’s Day recess and Williamson explains what it means for politics and for governance on Capitol Hill.

Protestors against North Carolina's so-called bathroom bill gathered across the street from the state legislative building last month. (Al Drago/CQ Roll Call file photo)

Conservative lawmakers in Kansas are joining the national debate over transgender rights with an official rebuke of the Obama administration's bathroom directive.

The state's Republican-controlled House and Senate are working to end their 2016 sessions with a set of actions — including a non-binding Senate resolution scheduled for a vote Wednesday — condemning last month's directive that public schools must allow transgender students to use the bathrooms they choose, according to local media reports.

With extensive voting records, state legislators hoping to capture national offices have seen their records used against them in close races, as their opponents use their votes to paint them with the same brush any incumbent is accustomed to.